después de lucía ★ 2012 ★ michel franco

alejandra and her dad move to méxico's city after her mom died. both of them try to surpass their grief however they can without making the other carry the weight of their mental troubles and problems in their daily life. she makes friends at school, which later turn out to be her 'punishers.'

this film is filled with silence, a somber atmosphere and hopelessness. the relationship between ale and her dad is bittersweet because both are really trying to be present, but there's a distance that cannot be closed. when i see things i try not to relate to it too much to not give an opinion based on my own experiences (bc nobody cares), but seeing their relationship on camera just hit me lol. because, what's after my mom dies? my days would be filled with silence, just like alejandra's life. in that regard, the scenes with them both are unfortunate? and hit too close to home.

and, because they're already living through their grief, not one of them decides to confide in each other about what bad thing happened that day to not worry the other. and this is a reason for alejandra to keep silent about the bullying and all the abuse she's suffering every day at school because the guy she had sex with leaked their video. there's this depressing resignation coming from her at some point.

i liked the shots: they are the usual shots in often-silent movies that try to replicate real-life misery and cruelty, but try to maximize it. the cake scene was disgusting, and rage baited me. in general, the scenes where abuse is depicted were obviously uncomfortable and not-that-exaggerated imho. although at one point this plot + the silent scenes with alejdrana feels repetitive at some point without having a goal? i'm not sure, but everything that has to be endured doesn't have a conclusion that's satisfying, that being in the revenge done by the dad or how the characters end up. and i don't mean i wanted a hero ending where there's justice, but everyone feels underdeveloped.

unfortunately, this movie suffers from a lack of development? it felt empty, as if it was just filled with short scenes without further development like when the dad knows nobody from the justice system will help him to get onto the 'shock' scenes, and thus, the progress to reach the ending felt like a comedy sketch? like... how are you going to let a man take your child? LOL i felt the director didn't know how to reach that part, develop it, or who to punish. all the scenes between the dad and the guy feel like a speedrun to the ending. but the ending scene was pleasant? the silence from the dad, the sound of the ocean waves, the fadeout to the credits... the director has good concepts but fails to develop them well.

spoiler about the ending: the scenes where alejandra reaches her past home felt like we were seeing her desire to return to the place where her mother lived, to where things were not like this and she could lay in bed and just be.

and i will cut it here because i would be writing a long rambling that will get nowhere, so i'll just say it's a decent mexican movie. i'll watch more from michel franco since a lot of mexican people hate him LOL